Hernán Alberto Gil Flores, a 44-year-old Venezuelan security guard, has been trapped under the rubble of the Galerías Playa Grande shopping center in Catia La Mar, La Guaira, for over 170 hours, and has become the most powerful symbol of hope amid the seismic tragedy that struck Venezuela. Rescue teams from at least 10 countries are tirelessly working to bring him out alive, as reported by the President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, on his social media.
Hernán was in his security booth when the two earthquakes of magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5 struck northern Venezuela on June 24, 2026. The small structure withstood the collapse of the nine-story building and created the vital space that has allowed him to survive buried under more than 140 tons of rubble.
It was the Costa Rican rescuer Allan Madrigal from the Costa Rican Red Cross who first heard Hernán's voice among the rubble, approximately 100 hours after the earthquake. "I literally got goosebumps because this is something that is very difficult to achieve in this race against time. For us, this happening, apart from being a ray of light, is a hope. It excites us greatly, it gave us back our energy and the desire to put in that extra effort," Madrigal stated, according to the Costa Rican media Teletica.
From that moment on, the teams focused their efforts on digging a tunnel to reach him and introduce a hose through which they supply him with water to prevent dehydration. The transcripts of the videos released by Bukele show the direct exchange between Hernán and the rescuers: "Yes, I'm fine; it's just that the rocks are making my back hurt," the survivor responded when asked if he was injured. "No, no, I'm not injured; it's just that the little stones are... uncomfortable," he clarified.
The operation, however, has faced enormous obstacles. Bukele reported that after 58 hours of continuous work, the original tunnel had suffered several collapses caused by the instability of the structure, aftershocks, and rainfall. "The difficulty is that Hernán is trapped inside a highly unstable nine-story structure, and the tunnel we had excavated has experienced several collapses," explained the Salvadoran president. Given this situation, the teams decided to open a second access point from a different location.
Despite everything, communication with Hernán was never interrupted. Noemí Quiroa, a member of the Search and Rescue Group from El Salvador, was one of the rescuers who maintained direct contact with him during the operation. "Hernán is still fighting, and so are we," wrote Bukele, who has been actively informing about the operation.
Hernán's wife, Gusbimar González, publicly expressed her gratitude for the efforts of the international teams. "I want to thank everyone who has contributed, all the rescuers from various countries, especially those from the Red Cross and especially those from Costa Rica, because they are the ones who reached the site and heard my husband's voice and realized that there were indeed people alive. This is a miracle, and I will be eternally grateful," she said.
The case of Hernán unfolds amidst a catastrophe of historical proportions. The earthquakes of June 24 constitute the largest seismic tragedy in Venezuela in over a century, with 2,295 reported deaths as of July 1 by the Venezuelan government, while the UN estimated figures of up to 50,000 missing.
According to El País, on Wednesday night, Hernán's head began to emerge from the rescue tunnel after nearly 200 hours under the rubble, with over 100 people from 10 countries participating in the operation.
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